A problem which arises continuously in the sport known as alpine or downhill skiing is that of snow caking on and sticking to the bottom and edges of ski boots. Almost any time a skier walks on snow in ski boots, whether in getting up after a fall or prior to or after completing a ski run, snow and possibly other refuse will have been found to have compressed and stuck to the bottom of the ski boot. This material must be removed before putting the skis on again for reasons of comfort and safety. The boot simply will not fit properly into the binding when there is a build up of snow under the bottom or on the heel and toe edges of the boot. This will interfere with proper boot release, affect boot to friction pad interaction and so generally create a hazard for the skier.
It is therefore necessary to scrape the snow and other refuse off of the bottom of the boot. This is frequently done by drawing the boot across the toe piece of the binding.
This procedure has several disadvantages. A certain amount of the snow scraped off of the boot bottom in this manner simply falls rearwardly of the toe piece to land on the ski and still interfere with the placing of the boot in the binding. As well, the scraping of the boot over the binding may affect the adjustment of the binding thus affecting safety. Further, other material trapped in the snow on the bottom of the boot may find its way into the binding mechanism and again affect safety.
A further method of removing snow from boot bottoms is by banging one boot against the other. This is particularly unsatisfactory once one boot has been placed on the ski, since banging the free boot against the mounted boot may then knock the mounted boot out of the binding. Further, this method does not in any event ensure adequate removal of material from the boot.
Where the snow is fairly tightly compacted on the bottom of the boot, it may be necessary to utilize the end of a ski pole, or the fingers, to scrape or dig away the compacted snow. This is a very awkward and so unsatisfactory procedure.
There is therefore a very widely felt need for a convenient and satisfactory means of removing snow from a ski boot sole prior to placing the boot in the binding of a ski.
The present invention provides a ski boot scraper which is intended to alleviate the problems discussed above.